Enfield Motorcycle Ride Raises Awareness Of Organ Donation

Joann Meyers' daughter, Kym, in picture, died in 2010 after being… (Michael Walsh, The Hartford…)

September 11, 2014|By MICHAEL WALSH, micwalsh@courant.com

Joann Meyers' daughter, Kym, died from cirrhosis of the liver in 2010.

It was an unexpected diagnosis for the Enfield resident, who was a freshman at Eastern Connecticut State University.

On Sept. 6, for the fifth straight year, the Kym's Kause motorcycle ride and cookout will honor Kym's memory and collect money for LifeChoice Donor Services, a nonprofit organization that helps people find organ donors.

The very first Kym's Kause event was planned by her three friends, Sara Mimoso, Amanda Toner and Karen Bell, as a way to raise money for the Meyers family at a time when Kym was awaiting a liver and kidney transplant, Joann Meyers said.

Kym Meyers never got those transplants: She died before the fundraiser was even held.

The event is now held in Kym's memory, and is held in with the goal of raising funds that can help someone get necessary organ donations.

Meyers sees the event as a way her daughter can make an impact on someone else's life.

"It's like I'm keeping her alive inside of me," Meyers said. "This is because of her. It's just a way to keep her memory going and so that nothing happens to anybody else, what we had to go through, waiting, waiting and it never happening."

The event has brought in about $7,000 in each of its first four years, Joann Meyers said.

"The first one was a tear-jerker," Meyers said. "You see all these people come up that you don't know, but support you."

Meyers said she hopes that at least the event and her daughter's life can make more people realize the importance of organ donation.

"If we can make more people aware of organ donation and get them to become donors, and tell their family and friends, hopefully this won't happen to anybody else again," Meyers said.

The fifth annual Kym's Kause event is scheduled Sept. 6 at the Moose Lodge, 124 South Road, with registration for the motorcycle ride beginning at 9 a.m. The motorcycle ride takes off at 11 a.m. and returns at 2 p.m. Non-riders can join for lunch at 2 p.m. The donation is $20.